StP_Scholar

Patrick's native tongue was British. He was learned in the sense that he went to school. He was a nobleman's son who got the best education available until he was at least 16 years of age. He would have had a good mastery of Latin, his second language, and Latin style and have studied the Bible as a text. Later, he would study Latin again in his preparation for the priesthood. He would have been familiar with concentric structure, which is found in Sacred Scripture and the Classics, and Gaelic poetry and prose down to the eighteenth century.

There were scholars and learned clergy who were jealous of him and attacked him. When he refers to himself as "uneducated" he is probably saying he is not a professional scholar like some of his detractors. In any case, he was not impressed by them and shows he has as much ability. Chapters 9 to 15 are a miniature of the whole Confession and here Patrick displays an ability to compose Latin on a par with his critics.

He is a typical Celt and to the Celt the half-said thing is dearest. Patrick drops a hint, he gives a quotation from Scripture or alludes to Scripture, but when you read the whole context of that quotation you will find that Patrick knows what follows or precedes what he quotes and he expects the reader to know it as well.

Máire Bríd de Paor pbvm